reaction to local aneasthetic?

[De8934]

I'm not sure if this is a reaction or what happens, but when I have the injection I sometimes don't feel very well or remember what has happened. Once my left arm and leg went floppy and I felt like I wasn't in the room. I think I may have behaved strangly and I'm a bit embarrassed in case I said or did something I shouldn't have done.

If anything happened important, then the dentist would tell me wouldn't they? could anxiety cause this to happen?

thank you

 

[Dr. Daniel]

Hey
There are many patients who are afraid of the needle who, and as a response to the injection their blood pressure changes rapidly, causing them in some cases even to faint. you can read more about it in https://www.dentalfearcentral.org/fears/fainting-during-injections/
Regarding to what you described, if it happens on every dental anesthesia you receive, it is might be that the fear provokes rapid changes in the blood pressure and that causes the dizziness and left leg and arm.

 

[De8934]

Sorry, i'm such a worrier over any thing to do with dentists. your probably right.

 

[Clem]

Couldn't it be a reaction to the epi in the LA? Like it got injected into a vessel? Lots of people are terrified of the needle but very few faint or have a physical reaction such as "floppy" arms and legs. Maybe an LA agent without epi should be tried.

 

[letsconnect]

It sounded more like a drop in blood pressure rather than a rise, though? (and it would be highly unusual for a dentist to consistently hit a blood vessel by mistake )

@De8934: of course your dentist would let you know if anything important happened. Were you sitting up or lying down when you felt these sensations?

 

[RP]

It sounds like a vasovagal response- make sure you are not holding your breath during the injecton, slow deep breaths......................


rp

 

[De8934]

Thank you everyone for getting back to me on this. It so scares me.

I'm was lying down when it happened and I do hold on to the arms of the chair really tight and hold my breath a bit. When my arm and leg went floppy it was when the injections for a filling in the lower jaw didn't work. So the dentist shoved the needle down the side of the tooth as he said it should work, it was so painful, but it did seem to work or maybe I fainted i'm not sure. I do remember standing by the dental chair and could see a dark cave where the dentist was sitting and that he was encouraging me to sit on a chair in that cave so he could take a xray and wondering why was a cave in the dental surgery!

 

[letsconnect]

So the dentist shoved the needle down the side of the tooth as he said it should work, it was so painful, but it did seem to work or maybe I fainted i'm not sure.

Umm... I think I'd be feeling faint too if this happened to me .

It doesn't sound (from the way you phrased it) as if you like and trust this dentist? Though I could be mistaken - maybe you do like him well enough, in which case it may be helpful to tell him about your fears and let him know when you experience pain (some people are so good at covering up any discomfort that their dentist might not even notice, so I thought I'd mention it here).

 

[De8934]

Thank you Letsconnect.

i think my dentist is a good person but does seem to have problems getting the injection to work with me. i think it causes him stress and thats why he looks pissed off sometimes, he is very busy and i think he does not have the time needed to help me. i dont feel comfortable telling him about the pain i have and that i feel very dizzy and sick with the injections. Maybe another dentist would be better for me. I hope i find a dentist like David.

I would just like to say that It has helped so much to discuss my scary fears and worries on hear and get so much support. Thank you

 

[brit]

You can get dizzy/faint reactions to local anesthetic if you go in on an empty stomach as well.
Grasping the arms tightly is not the way to have a comfortable experience...you need to relax as much as possible and just go with the flow.
Find a dentist who knows how to make the injection painfree and your anxiety will drop immensely...even if not on the first occasion.

 

[Dr. Daniel]

Hey
Another factor that might help is to have an adrenaline-free anesthetic solution. It is known that the Drenaline which usually used in anesthesia causes secretion of adrenaline from the body (the adrenal gland).
I assume that it has also a moderate contribution for the dizziness.

 

[De8934]

Hello Dr Daniel, thank you for your reply but you lost me at the word Drenaline. I hope my dentist knows all about this stuff.

Brit, I very rarely skip meals, I like my food too much. After reading through alot of the threads on here, the dizziness and sickness is probably just my nerves getting the best of me. still not sure about the weakness and floppy arm and leg.

Thank you

 

[Dr. Daniel]

Hello Dr Daniel, thank you for your reply but you lost me at the word Drenaline.
Thank you

Hey
Adrenaline has another name which is Epinephrine. You can read a very interesting article about it in: [broken link removed]

I found this article a bit extreme, searching for sensations but it has still a small grain of truth.

 

[De8934]

Thank you Dr Daniel for getting back to me about this. I have read through the article and it does seem to mention some of the symptoms i have described. I dont think it is panic but i may be wrong.

It has helped to understand a little bit better what might be happening when i have local aneasthetic. It is still a mystery why it still wont work especially when injected near the lower wisdom tooth. That can't be anything to do with panic can it?

Thank you again, i do appreciate the effort you have made to help me to understand things.

 

[Dr. Daniel]

It is still a mystery why it still wont work especially when injected near the lower wisdom tooth. That can't be anything to do with panic can it?

It happens that during the administration of the anesthesia, specially with lower jaw (what is called a mandibular block), some of the solution goes through a blood vessel to the blood system and then all the symptoms that you mentioned will take place within a few seconds.
It is very possible that it happened also in your case.

Thanks for you kind words.

 

[De8934]

I would not have thought that injecting into a blood vessel when doing the nerve block would happen very often. I feel unwell most time's I have the local aneasthetic. The dentist cant be getting it wrong that many times.

It is a mystery but I'm not so concerned about it now. I'll see if it happens with another dentist when the time comes. When I feel in the new patient medical form I'll put something on there, it shoukd trigger some questions and that will be my opportunity to talk about it. But if they don't ask I wont mention it.

Thanks anyway.